As evidence mounts that excessive use of light is harming wild creatures and adversely affecting human health, new initiatives in France and elsewhere are seeking to turn down the lights that flood an ever-growing part of the planet.

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A satellite view of the earth at night. As the world rapidly develops and becomes more urban, use of artificial light is growing as much as 20 percent a year in some regions. Now, only the planet's remotest regions — Siberia, the Tibetan plateau, the Sahara Desert, the Amazon, and the Australian outback — remain cloaked in darkness. (NASA)